Centre close to solve GST issues

Bengaluru: The Centre is close to resolving questions raised by various states regarding the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) that will replace the existing VAT, Union minister of state for commerce Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.Ms. Sitharaman said the Centre would make some modifications to the proposed GST system and bring a bill to Parliament during the next session.

“Finance minister Arun Jaitley has said some modifications would be made in the proposed Goods and Services Tax system, before it is implemented from the next financial year,” she said.Several states had raised objections over the over revenue sharing in a GST regime.

Ms Sitharaman rapped the Coffee Board, saying it could not be “doing nothing” while the Indian coffee sector was plagued by quality issues, the white borer pest menace, promoting the coffee culture and expanding to new export markets”. The minister said that coffee growers and exporters are doing their bit, but the Coffee Board was not proactive enough.

Misquoted on etailers

The minister for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that the government had no plans to regulate online retail, in the wake of speculation that such a move was being considered, following complaints surrounding Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Day’ sale. “I was misquoted on the issue. The government is not planning to regulate online retail,” the minister said.